Incarnate Memories
by PockythiefBAF
Summary: Strange things happen to a boy who moves to Rocket Town. His family is attacked by monsters when most thought they had gone into hiding. He seems to be followed by a woman with red hair, and plagued by dreams of a strange world. On the other hand, he is given the opportunity to meet and get to know the members of the famed Avalanche. FFVII characters and OC characters
1. Chapter 1

Incarnate Memories

Chapter 1

My vision started to blur as I continued to move through the streets of Rocket Town. It was a quiet little town that used to have a giant rocket (hence its name. There's a whole history behind this place but I'll get to that later). Subconsciously, I knew I had been injured but survival instincts and adrenalin tend to make you forget about little things like that, any second they would find me and finish the job. I still couldn't believe what happened; normal evening and then chaos as a pair of monsters killed my parents and would have killed me if I hadn't dodged at the last second, and even then they cut me on my side and I guessed it was poisoned too if the smell was any clue. Finally I found an empty alley way with only a dirty, forgotten dumpster that sat in the corner looking sad and pathetic. I hid behind my new best friend and finally took a look at the damage; it didn't look that bad except for the blood that continued to flow at a disturbing rate (and I already mentioned the bad smell…).

The only thing I had available to use as pressure against the wound was my t-shirt. That was the good news...bad news was, I had to lift it off my wounded side first. After a few minutes of tentative work I managed to get the shirt off. I gritted my teeth to keep from crying out as I tied it tight around my waist. Now that I took care of the wound as best I could, I knew I had to get to the hospital but I was too dizzy and I had no idea if my attackers were still out there. No one would believe I was attacked by monsters; they rarely show up in towns or cities any more. I felt myself slipping away, and I guess I should have been alarmed by this but I was too tired to stay awake. Before things turned to black I could have sworn I saw a woman with bright red hair walk up with a look of relief on her face.

"Nice to see you haven't changed... even though that was a century ago and a whole other world."

A block away, in a house by the old rocket site, was a large family with two adults and four children winding down for the night; technically three people were doing this (a pair of fraternal twins were fast asleep in their bed, as well as the man snoring loudly on the couch). A woman named Shera Highwind shook her head at the sight of her husband. Her eldest son paused in leaving the kitchen, seeing the slightly amused look on his mother's face. He was about to continue upstairs with his prize of cookies and a large glass of milk when the doorbell rang. Both he and his mother looked over in surprise and he set his late night snack down (unbeknownst to him a pair of glowing purple eyes were watching the plate intently, obviously up to no good). Shera opened the door, expecting a person standing there, not an unconscious boy (me, in case you didn't know) with a bloody shirt used as a makeshift bandage.

Getting over her shock, Shera called for her husband. When she failed to get a response, her son hurried off to wake him, coming to the conclusion that it would take more than that to wake the deep sleeper. Shera's cry did get the attention of her eldest daughter. She came running down the stairs.

"Mom, Jr., what's going on?" She stopped short when she took in the scene in front of her.

By this time Jr. (or he sometimes prefers to be called CJ) had managed to wake his father; the former leading the way, the latter grumbling as he followed.

Shera saw him coming and called out in a panicked voice, "Cid, we need to take this boy to the hospital, he's badly injured!"

Without responding, almost as if a switch was flipped, Cid quickly scooped the boy up (still me), and rushed to the hospital. In the wake of all that excitement Shera shut the door and told her children to go to bed. Jr turned to pick his snack back up, only to find that mysteriously, two cookies were missing. Not fooled by what happened he managed to glare at a black tail that was slithering out of sight. I learned all of this later at the hospital because at the time I was, of course, unconscious. When I did wake up, the first person I saw was a man who appeared to be in his 40s. He had a look of a seasoned sea captain (not the best thing to wake up to) but instead of yelling at me for stowing away in his ship (okay, so might have been a little out of it from blood loss), he looked over and saw that I was conscious and staring at him.

"Looks like somebody decided to wake up. So how ya feeling?"

"Um... fine I guess..." My brain apparently was taking its sweet time rebooting. Normally, you wouldn't group 'surviving a life threatening situation' with 'fine'.

"That side of yours and the doctor tell me otherwise." He paused and then continued. "So...How'd ya get it?"

I got the feeling that 'I fell down the stairs' was not going to fly with him or with the doctor either but before I could come up with an answer he spoke up again. He could probably tell I was doing some fast thinking.

"Well, ya don't have to tell me if ya don't want, but others are gonna to ask questions and they'll want answers."

I looked down at my sheets. "My family was attacked by monsters. I know it sounds crazy but it's the truth. My parents were killed and I thought I was done for last night too. I guess I survived somehow, thanks to you I'm sure."

He gave a resigned sigh. "Well...that explains it, but...uh...makes things a little complicated. The cops found your parents dead alright... problem is, they think you did it."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

How would you react if you were told the police thought you murdered your own parents? Shocked? Outraged? Yeah…that was just a couple of what went through my head. I didn't respond to the man's comment and he didn't seem to expect one.

"Bull shit if ya ask me. I already told the dumbasses that with your wound, there's no way you could've done it, but no…" He held out the 'no' in full sarcasm. "Why would they listen to me? I only helped save the planet from destruction, no big deal. Fuckin' idiots…"

I laughed at first; what can I say, I needed a laugh after what happened. Then I realized what he had said. "Wait…" I took in his appearance: short blonde hair that stuck up slightly behind a pair of goggles, he also had stubble along his jaw (I couldn't tell if he had been unable to shave given the situation or if he preferred the rough look). He was really muscular and his expression added to the aura he carried that clearly stated 'don't mess with me'. His comment on the other hand suggested that he did possess a sense of humor. It had finally dawned on me who this man was. "Are you Cid Highwind?" He nodded casually as if it were no big thing.

I continued to stare at him in shock when we heard a commotion outside my room. The door flew open and a pair of local cops came storming in with a person I could only assume was my doctor. He was shouting protests at the police claiming I was in no fit state to be interrogated. The police on the other hand ordered everyone else out. That comment caused Mr. Highwind to rise from his chair apparently not pleased at being ordered around. In the end I spoke up and said it was okay (I really didn't want a full-out fight right next to my bed). They forced the Avalanche member to leave but my doctor would not on the grounds that I was his patient.

At first their questions were routine: They asked my name (Kazuki Souma, by the way), where I lived and how long I had lived in Rocket Town. I told them that my family had just moved here from Wutai; my dad had been offered a job at the WRO and he didn't want to travel so far to work and back. Then they went right into why I would murder my parents. I tried to explain over and over that my family had been attacked by monsters, but just as I thought they didn't believe me. As far as I could tell they were all ready to haul me off in my hospital gown (that would have been a scene as those don't really cover your butt…) when Cid Highwind came back in the room followed by a man I didn't know. While the former walked straight up to the police, the later leaned against the wall, perfectly calm.

Cid folded his arms with an air of finality, "You ain't takin' the kid anywhere."

One of the policemen got up and sneered at him. "Oh yeah, what's stopping us?"

The new guy spoke up. "That would be a higher authority then you. A possible monster attack falls strictly under WRO jurisdiction. Our very own Commander Highwind will be contacting Commissioner Tuesti to conduct a thorough investigation." He spoke very officially but his barely contained grin ruined any attempt at being serious. Later on, once I got to know him, I learned that he was rarely serious.

The police grumbled but left, they knew they couldn't go against the WRO. Some people think that it is just another Shin'Ra trying to take control, but if that was the case I'm sure Avalanche would have had something against it but on occasion they've worked with the WRO. Even Cid Highwind here, is in charge of the WRO Airship Fleet. There's not much for them to do right now with everyone still working on rebuilding this world: Shin'Ra, Meteor, and Geostigma. Once everything goes back to normal, there will be some conflict or radical group to deal with just like Deep Ground.

Once the police were gone the new guy laughed, walked over with grin, and ruffled my hair. "Don't let them bother you, they're itching for something to do around this boring place." He was about half a foot taller than Cid with pale brown hair that was almost as messy as mine. He had a short goatee and dark eyes that seem to shine with his playful personality. "Name's Andrew Collins, nice to meet you. I only wish those morons would allow you to grieve for your parents in peace."

I looked down at my sheets again. With all the craziness I hadn't been given an opportunity to really take in that they were gone. Andrew looked on with sympathy while Cid glared out the window. "Don't worry kid, we'll find out what's goin' on."

"Speaking of which, we never got your name." Andrew said. So I once again explained who I was but this time I didn't feel like I had to prove anything. The two men gave their goodbyes as a nurse walked in with some kind of ointment and pills. It was obvious what the ointment was for but as for the pills, whatever they were, they knocked me out instantly.

Next time I woke things were looking better. I still had an itchy bandage around my waist but I was now wearing a t-shirt and a pair of shorts (heck of a lot more comfortable than that hospital gown...). There was also someone new there. At first I thought it was Cid Highwind but on a second glance I realized he was my age. He was busy button smashing on a portable game system.

"What level are you on?" I asked.

He hesitated then looked over, which probably cost him the round. "Oh, hey. How are you doing?...Dad's busy with stuff so I told him I'd stick around. I hope my clothes fit okay, I wasn't sure of your size." He grinned in a friendly manner. He had Cid's blonde hair and blue eyes but he didn't have the muscles (thankfully), looking like just your average kid. "I'm Cid Highwind Jr, but I usually go by CJ or Jr. I don't like getting tons of attention just because of who my dad is."

"Kazuki Souma. And thanks for the clothes, they're much more comfortable."

We talked for a while and quickly came to the conclusion that I liked this guy. We enjoyed the same games and I was supposed to go to his school once the school year started in a couple weeks. We would have continued for hours but a most unusual pair walked in. Obviously father and daughter, seeing as they both had blue hair and blue eyes (the girl's hair was a little lighter in color than his). Though the blue hair thing was strange I couldn't help think that she was pretty.

"How are things Kazuki?" The man asked. "Has Jr kept you from being bored out of your mind?"

I grinned at this. "Yeah he has. You know who I am but, who are you two?"

"Kazu (yeah, Jr already gave me a nickname), this is Mike Johnson who works with my dad, and my friend Kyla Johnson."

I laughed slightly, "I feel like I've met half of Rocket Town now!"

The others joined in. "I think you have! There's not many there. We have to go to Midgar to use the hospital. Does that make any sense to you?" Kyla asked.

"That should be next on the list of construction once major buildings are repaired." Mike replied. He was about to say more when his phone rang. "Sorry…one moment." He walked off to answer it.

The three of us reminded silent waiting. Don't ask me why, maybe we could all sense the call had bad news. Soon Mike was back looking grim.

"That was from Reeve. Social Services are requiring that either you get placed in a foster home or you'll have to be sent to the orphanage in Midgar."


	3. Chapter 3

After that lovely bit of news, the others left my room and headed home with plenty of sympathetic looks. Don't get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with the orphanages; I just didn't want to leave Rocket Town when I met a lot of cool people. Unfortunately, I didn't have much choice on the matter. As uneasy as I was, the sedatives put me to sleep quickly. Occasionally I would wake up to nurses checking in on me. Oddly, one of them had bright red hair...

Once he got home, Jr went over to the forest by his house. When he was young, he had asked Cid to help him make a tree house. What he hadn't planned on, was the help from the rest of Avalanche (the saviors of the planet: Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Yuffie, and Vincent). The end result was more of a tree fort, and when I say tree fort I mean a fortress in the trees. It used two trees for support, hiding some of the branches with wood columns. A pulley system was made to lift heavy objects and it had a drop-down staircase to get up. The large space inside allowed for the option of two adults, four teenagers, or at least half of Jr's younger siblings' preschool class.

Jr was working in a notebook. Wither he was sketching or writing lyrics I don't know (he says he does that when he's got too much on his mind). He was startled from his work when he heard almost a chirping like noise; it wasn't anything like a bird though. It was a Forest Dragon, one of the smallest of its kind. These small creatures were pack hunters; where there was one you could expect at least a dozen more to be hanging around. One fact was very important to remember with these little guys: don't do anything to their forests without their permission first. That might sound strange, but dragons are very intelligent and you don't want to piss them off.

"Hey there little guy. What are you up to?" The dragon chipped out a response but Jr's attention was diverted to his bag as he saw a little green tail sticking out of it. He picked up the front flap of the the bag so the little dragon could see he was caught. "Bud, there's no food in there." The dragon gave a sad chirp and left the bag. He watched it fly off in time to see Andrew walk over to the hangar next to Cid's house.

As Andrew walked up he could hear a lot of noise from the hanger. Once inside he called out in a loud voice, "You building or breaking?"

There were a couple of choice words before he got a response. "I was grabbin' something when the whole damn shelf decided to come with it...piece of shit... Anyway, what do ya want?"

"I'm assuming you've heard from Mike?" After a nod from Cid he continued. "Well... Carol and I were talking..and you know she can't have kids..." Cid continued to look at him, waiting for him to finish. Andrew rolled his eyes, "and we decided to adopt Kazuki."

"Seriously?" Came Jr's excited voice. He had gone over to the hanger to see what was going on.

Andrew grinned at him and Cid gave a quiet laugh while going back to repairing the shelf.

Meanwhile I was still at the hospital unaware the I would soon have a new home. That night I began to have the first of many strange dreams. I was in a place full of trees and flowing water. The houses were like ancient Wutaian style buildings except these had the trees growing out of them. The clothing, technology, and even some of the people made me realize that this could not have been Wutai. Some people also had weird skin and hair colors. On closer inspection in was obvious they weren't human. Then, walking up to me was that red-headed woman I just now remembered from the night I thought I was going to die. Her outfit was a wrap of red cloth with long sleeves.

She looked over at me with confusion. "Kazu, what's wrong?" I could clearly see her red eyes with slitted pupils and her ears came to a point. "Kazu?"

Next thing I knew, Jr was shaking me awake. "Hey Kazu, you okay? You having a nightmare?"

"Not that, just a strange dream," I replied, sitting up and wiping the sleep out of my eyes. "And a woman I think I've seen before. Anyway, what's going on?"

"Oh yeah. Andrew and his wife Carol want to take you in...if you want that is."

"Really? They'd do that for me?" I asked, shocked.

"Yeah. It'll take some time for everything to go through. In the meantime, you can stay at my house. Come on, you're all checked out."

It didn't take long for everything to be collected and out the door only for me to stop in my tracks. There Cid Highwind was next to his airship The Shera smirking at my reaction.

"Wait, we're going in that?!"

Jr grinned. "Come on, let's get you home."

A shadow looked out of my hospital room window staring at me while I was busy being super psyched at getting the opportunity to ride the famous airship. A nurse walked in to clean up the room only to stop short.

"Who are you?" She demanded. "You're not on staff, I'm calling security!" She turned to run off only to see the stranger standing in front of her when the person had been at the window seconds before. The women had bright red hair with matching eyes. She gently placed two fingers on the nurse's right temple.

"I usually don't do stuff like this so sorry and all, but I need you to forget you saw me." She then turned away and if the nurse had been looking and not spaced out, the strange woman would have been gone in the blink of an eye.


	4. Chapter 4

Where do I even begin to describe what it felt like to ride in an airship? Incredible! This giant machine was able to travel in the air without crashing. Cid explained that it was due to the sheer amount of propellers The Shera possessed. Both wings and the tail used a series of propellers arranged one on top of the other. I could only imagine the engine required to keep this thing running. Cid began to go deeper into the design, obviously taking great pride in his ship but I was no longer listening (No offence. Cid), because we had reached the main deck and control center. There were computers all around with people sitting in front of them pushing buttons, a man stood in front of the steering wheel remaining completely focused on his tank, and the most breath-taking part was the view. Both the walls and most of the floor were covered in glass. While I was spaced out, both Jr and Cid grinned to each other understanding my reaction. Cid strolled over to the pilot to take over, most likely thinking that he could impress me with the ship later.

Jr walked up next to me, "The view is awesome, isn't it?"

I shook my head still in awe. "Awesome doesn't even begin to describe it! It's almost as if I'm physically flying!"

"Well…you are, but I get what you mean. I had the same feeling when I first went up in this thing. Dad's giving you a treat. Usually we just take The Highwind cause he can fly that by himself."

"Took ya to the hospital in The Highwind, but I guess you wouldn't remember that…" Cid added, though I couldn't tell if he was talking to me or thinking out loud because he, then, began barking out orders to the other crew members. They must have been an experienced group because they moved around the deck with ease.

It wasn't long before we arrived at the familiar Rocket Town. The airship landed on the ground without any difficulty. Once we got off, the airship was taken to a large hanger near the Highwind house. A welcome party was already waiting for us. A woman with long brown hair pulled high in a ponytail and bright green eyes was the first to greet me.

"Welcome back Kazuki, you probably don't remember me. I'm Shera Highwind, Jr's mom. You were lucky enough to end up on our doorstep. A lot of people came to see you. First off, I know you've met Andrew, but this is his wife Carol." She gestured to a woman with short sandy brown hair and light blue-gray eyes. She walked towards me with a friendly smile on her face.

"Hello Kazuki. I'm sorry I wasn't able to visit you in the hospital. Try not to pay too much attention to my husband, he can be strange sometimes." I blinked at her slightly but she continued to smile.

"Carol, don't tell him that with a smile on your face, he'll actually believe you…" Andrew replied with an annoyed look for a few seconds. "I'm twice as strange as that. That's why Cid and I get along so well." He finished with a grin.

The rest of us laughed at their antics, while Cid pretended to be angry at the implication of being considered strange. Already I had the feeling that my parents would rest a little easier with these two looking after me. Shera continued by introducing her eldest daughter Skyler or Sky for short. She had her mother's looks and green eyes but her father's blonde hair. She gave me an enthusiastic greeting.

"You've met Mike and Kyla, but this is—"Before she could finish I was plowed over by a small body followed by a small voice crying out in exasperation.

"Alex, watch where you're going!" The boy in question quickly got back on his feet… It took me a little longer to do the same. I must still be recovering...

Both children had Shera's brown hair and they looked the same age, but the flip side the boy had light blue eyes while the girl had green. I also could tell that their personalities were different.

Cid shook his head, "Easy there bud. He just got back from the hospital."

"Sorry, I just wanted to say hi…"The boy replied subdued, knowing that if he didn't apologize his mom would be angry with him.

Shera smiled at him. "These two little ones are our youngest, Alex and Yuuki" The girl hid behind her mother.

I smiled at them both and then paused. "Yuuki? That's Wutaian."

Shera nodded. "Yuuki was somewhat of a special birth. Because of that Yuffie named her for us."

"You guys know the Princess?!" I asked shocked, before my brain and Jr, answered for me.

"Well, she is part of Avalanche…"

"Right…" I replied embarrassed.

A shadow passed overhead and then landed next to Cid. I knew what it was right away but I was shocked nonetheless. Next to Cid was a dragon. They were rarely seen unless you knew where they lived, and I was pretty sure a Light Dragon from the Northern Continent didn't normally live here. This one was unusual too, it had the normal gleaming white scales but around its forehead and tail were stripes of gold and it had piercing blue eyes. The dragon stood at the height of a large dog, its wings spread out slightly to get at an itch before sitting back on its hind legs.

Cid grinned as he placed a hand on the dragon's head. "This guy's name is Itmen."

[Nice to meet you, I'm Cid's partner] I heard a male voice in my head. I knew dragons were intelligent and could understand humans, but to be able to speak back… [It's an ability we like to call Mind Speak. All dragons can use it with some training.] Itman finished as if reading my thoughts.

"Um…nice to meet you." I replied still fazed.

"You'll get used to it. Itmen isn't the only dragon here." A woman spoke up. She had long black hair and light brown eyes.

She smiled as Mike spoke up, "Kazuki, this is my wife Samantha Johnson."

We shook hands and she finished with, "Everyone calls me Sam."

"Enough with the introductions already! Let's start the party!" Jr cried out with enthusiasm.

It wasn't long before things got going. Andrew brought out the beer followed Carol with the non-alcoholic drinks. Cid worked away on a grill I was sure you wouldn't be able to buy in a store. Later, Jr explained that Cid had put the device together himself after disagreeing with the instructions (of course that meant that he elected to add a few things here and there…). Four other dragons made their presence known during the party. Three looked similar except for the color of their scales: a light blue Light Sky Dragon, a dark green Earth Dragon, and surprisingly a Black Dragon. The forth almost looked like a snack until I realized it was a Water Dragon. Unlike the others, their bodies were designed to move effortlessly in the water. I guess I should have been more surprised by the amount of dragons in one location but I was having too much fun to worry about it.

….

Looking back now, I guess I was lucky. I was given a year to be just your average teenager (with a few strange habits…). If I had known what was coming, I never would have involved them in it…but it doesn't do any good to think about what could have been done. I'm hoping I can look back at this later and laugh at how crappy I am as a writer or how much of a dufus I was, but if not I want to at least make a record of how we got to this point. Anyway, I'm getting way too far ahead. I'll go back to when all I had to worry about was suffering through the first day of high school (boy that day was a mess…)


End file.
